It is usually never a good idea to come between a tiger shark and its dinner.
But when dive instructor Steve Ilsley saw a six-foot Mobula ray entangled in a mooring line on Monday, he didn’t hesitate.
“I didn’t think too much about it, I just went to help,” he said.
“If a diver was in trouble I would go to assist. It felt like the natural thing to do.”
The ray – a smaller cousin of the manta ray, but much larger than the more famous sting rays – had chomped on the mooring line at the Easy Street dive site off North West Point. It had become entangled in the rope, which had cut a gash into its mouth.
With a tiger shark circling, waiting for it to weaken, the group, from Wall to Wall Diving, watched from a distance.
Ilsley, who was last into the water, said he went straight over to the struggling ray.
“There was a big gash where the rope had pushed into its flesh,” he said.
“I guess it didn’t have a reverse gear and just kept pushing forward getting more and more entangled.”
The struggling animal would have been easy pickings for predators.
And the tiger shark – a relatively rare sighting on the reefs off Cayman – had staked its claim.
“It sensed something in danger and was waiting for an easy meal,” said Ilsley.
He climbed on top of the ray and pushed the rope forward until its grip loosened.
“It was actually much easier than I thought it would be. The ray just got out of there fast.”
Once the animal was free, the divers gave a muffled round of applause, under the surface.
Despite the potentially hazardous situation, Ilsley said he didn’t have time to be concerned.
“My heart rate didn’t really go up. It was an amazing thing to have witnessed those two things together.”
It was only afterwards that he reflected on the potential danger, but reasoned that he was safe enough.
“I don’t think the shark was interested in me, why would he be?”
Related Videos
